June 2005 Newsletter

June , 2005 Volume 17 Number 4

Letter from the President

Dear Members:

The 17th concert season ended with the Bach Birthday celebration in March. The musicians treated us with their splendid playing and singing. Two of the soloists, each very versatile, performed with us for the first time; baritone Gene Wu, and tenor Michiel Schrey, from Montreal. Thanks to Annette Caesar and Chris Svoboda, who organized the reception, allowing the audience and musicians to mingle and devour the birthday cake.

In this newsletter you will find the program for next season. Fresh and challenging work lies ahead, but it will be a labour of love.

An important date is September 19, when the Annual General Meeting will be held. Among other business, a new slate of officers will be elected. For a variety of reasons, I am resigning from my job as President, so we are looking for a replacement. It is a wonderful learning experience and offers a chance to become better acquainted with talented and most helpful Board members.

Also on our Wish List is a volunteer to revamp and maintain our website. With easier accessibility to posted information about our concerts, we hope this will help our publicity efforts and increase our audience. Do call our number, 232-8525, if you could help us.

I wish you a safe summer with many adventures,

Constance Jackson

Calgary Bach Festival Society 2005 - 2006 Concert Season

The 18th Bach Marathon Saturday, October 29, 2005 1 - 7 pmScarboro United Church Program will depend on musician participation

Bach Advent Concert Sunday, December 4, 2005 3 pm Scarboro United ChurchCantatas No. 5 & 6 from the Christmas Oratorio BWV 248A. Corelli - Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 3 & 4

Bach Children’s Concert Saturday, February 4, 2006 1 pm Leacock Theatre, Mount Royal College From 1:00 on, with instruments for children to tryConcert 2:00 pm featuring performances by children and the CBFS Choir

Bach Birthday Celebration Saturday, March 19, 2006 3 pmScarboro United ChurchJS Bach - 3 Motets CPE Bach - Concerto for cello GF Handel - Concerto Grosso Op. 3 No. 3

J.S. Bach Biography - Arnstadt (1703-1707)

The Bonifaciuskirche in Arnstadt was destroyed by fire in 1581, and it was subsequently rebuilt in 1676–1683. The church then became known as the Neuekirche until it was renamed in 1935 as the Bachkirche. In 1699, J.F. Wender was employed to build a new organ for the church, and the work was partially completed before the end of 1701, making the organ usable, but with only limited stops. Andrea Börner was formally appointed organist on January 1, 1702, and the organ’s registry was completed by June 1703. As was customary, several prominent organists were asked to examine the instrument, but only Bach was named and paid for his work, and it was he who “played the organ for the first time” in the summer of 1703. Bach had many relatives who lived in Arnstadt, and his family name was highly regarded by the local citizenry. As a result of his impressive skills as an organist, on August 9 Bach was offered the post of organist at the Neue Kirche over Börner’s head. And Börner’s responsibilities were then limited to the music of the town’s other two churches.

Bach accepted the post as an 18-year-old on August 14, 1703. The exact date that Bach assumed his duties in Arnstadt is not known, and his exact address while living in the town has not been precisely established. But since his last board and lodging allowance was paid to Feldhaus, he probably spent at least that year in either the Golden Crown or the Steinhaus, both of which belonged to Feldhaus. Considering his age and the local standards, Bach was well paid, and his duties were light. Normally, he was required at the church only for two hours on Sunday morning, for a service on Monday, and for two hours on Thursday morning, and, according to his contract, his only specified duty was “to accompany hymns.” Therefore, he had plenty of time for practice and composition. Bach took as his models Bruhns, Reincken, Buxtehude, and certain good French organists. There is no evidence that he ever took part in any of the theatrical and musical entertainments of the court or the town.

Bach was in no position to put on elaborate choral music at Arnstadt. The Neuekirche, like the other two churches, drew performers from two groups of schoolboys and senior students. Only one of these groups was capable of singing cantatas, and that choir was supposed to go to the Neuekirche monthly in the summer. But there does not appear to have been a duty roster. The performers naturally tended to go to the churches that had an established tradition (which the Neuekirche did not have). Bach had no authority to prevent this, since he was not a schoolmaster and was younger than many of the students. Further, he never had much patience with the semi-competent, and he was inclined to alienate the choirboys by making offensive remarks at rehearsals.

In August of 1705, there was an incident when Bach, upset with the poor performance of one of the church musicians, a certain J.H. Geyersbach, referred to him as a “zippel fagottist” (nanny-goat bassoonist). Later one evening, while Bach was walking with one of his cousins, Barbara Bach (elder sister of his future wife Maria Barbara), the same Geyersbach accosted him and demanded a retraction of the statement. When Bach would not apologize, the bassoonist attacked him with a walking stick. Bach drew his sword, but another student separated them. Bach complained to the Consistory (a clerical board responsible for matters pertaining to policies and personnel) that it would be unsafe for him to go about the streets if Geyersbach were not punished, and an inquiry was held. The Consistory informed Bach that he should not have insulted Geyersbach and that he should try to live peaceably with the students. Furthermore, the Consistory complained that Bach was not adequately training the choirboys, and Bach responded that, as organist, he did not think that was part of his responsibility, since it was not part of his contractual duties.

Apparently dissatisfied with the Consistory’s handling of his complaint, Bach requested a leave of absence to visit Lübeck, the home of the brilliant organist Dietrich Buxtehude. Upon being granted four weeks, Bach walked to Lübeck, starting out around October 18th and covering the 250 mile distance in about ten days. When it came time to return to Arnstadt, Bach lingered in Lübeck for a full three months without consulting his employers. It is possible that Bach left Arnstadt intending to overstay his leave so that he might attend Buxtehude’s Abendmusiken, a series of special services for Advent of some renown in northern Germany. Perhaps, like Mattheson and Handel before him, he went to Lübeck primarily to see if there was any chance of succeeding the elderly Buxtehude in his prestigious post, and he was put off by the prospect of marrying Buxtehude’s 30-year-old spinster daughter. Apparently Bach did not like what he saw, for he returned to Arnstadt in February of 1706, and soon thereafter he married his cousin Maria Barbara. Upon Buxtehude’s death, two years later, his daughter remained unmarried.

On February 21, 1706, the Superintendent of the Consistory, Johann Gottfried Olearius, conducted a hearing into the matter of Bach’s extended absence. Bach defended himself by reminding the authorities that he had left his affairs in charge of a deputy, his cousin Johann Ernst Bach, and that he had not been paid during his absence. His replies were unsatisfactory to the council, and they next complained that his accompaniments to chorales were too elaborate for congregational singing and that he still refused to collaborate with the choirboys in producing cantatas. The council informed Bach that they could not provide a choir director to assume those responsibilites for him, and if he continued to refuse to work with the student choir, they would have to find someone more amenable. Bach repeated his demand that a choir director be hired, and he was ordered to apologize to the Consistory within eight days. There is no evidence that he ever apologized, and the Consistory dropped the matter for eight months. They brought it up again on November 11, and Bach undertook to answer them in writing. They also accused Bach of inviting a “stranger maiden” to make music in the church (possibly his cousin, Maria Barbara), but he had obtained the pastor’s permission in advance for this. Clearly, Bach’s relationship with his superiors was rapidly decaying, and he began to look for new employment elsewhere.

Neither Bach nor the Consistory took further action immediately. It is likely that Bach had returned from Lübeck with exalted ideas about church music, requiring facilities that the small town of Arnstadt could not provide. His ability was becoming known, and on November 28th, he was asked to examine a new organ at Langewiesen. Then, upon the death of Johann Georg Ahle in Mühlhausen on December 2nd, an attractive, vacant position offered Bach a way out of his increasing problems in Arnstadt.

The Fellowship of the "Ring"

July 2005 will mark the 50th anniversary of English Pealing Bells at Christ Church, Elbow Park, in Calgary. On July 9 and 10, a homecoming and ringing weekend will be held. The highlight will be ringing for the Sunday service as it was done 50 years before, using only the 3 bells originally donated in 1955. By 1957 the church had a complete octave of bells, all cast in England. Christ Church is one of only a handful of churches in North America to have pealing bells, not to be confused with a carillon, like the one in the Calgary Tower.

What is this ancient art and science of change ringing?

Bells have been rung for centuries to call the faithful to service, to express the joy of weddings and the triumph of victories, to mourn at funerals and in remembrance of the dead. If you hear a melody, the bells are carillons or chimes. These bells are hung statically and sound by the striking of a clapper controlled by a single person. But some bells are hung in such a way that they may be swung and so cause the clapper inside to strike. Sets of bells hung this way produce no recognizable tunes. Instead they are rung in disciplined and mathematical sequences that produce a cascade of sound. This is change ringing, a practice that goes back into the Middle Ages. Bells are rung from the mouth-up position. With a pull of the rope from below, the bell swings through a full circle to the up position again. With the next pull it swings back in the other direction.

In the ringing chamber below the bells, a circle of ringers stands, one person at each of the dangling ropes attached to the bells. They work as a team so their bells follow one another in a particular order The ringing begins with a “round”; ringing from the lightest, highest-pitched bell to the heaviest: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. Then variations begin according to the “method” chosen. The place changes dictated by the “method”, with no repetition, produce musical patterns, with the sounds of the bells weaving in and out as if they were folk dancing with each other. The “method” ends with another “round”.

The steady rhythm and correct order of the sequences requires much practice and a good memory. And once one has mastered one “method” there’s always another to learn, or a conductor to command a change in the sequence by shouting “bob” when one’s concentration isn’t quite what it should be.

This is understood much better when seen. The public is allowed to climb up the narrow, spiraling stairs to the chamber where you can sit quietly, watch, and listen as the team rings. If you would like to experience this fellowship of the “Ring”, call Robyn Williams, Tower Captain at Christ Church, 286-8097. You can also email calgarybells@hotmail.com

A webpage with information about the bells at Christ Church can be found at: http://www.christchurchcalgary.org/bells.htm

Bach's Magnificat

In May 1723 Bach was appointed Kantor of St Thomas, Leipzig - we would probably call him the Director of Music - where he remained until his death in 1750. It was a hugely demanding post, involving teaching at the church school, playing the organ, training the choir and composing the music for the city’s two principal Lutheran churches as well as supervising and training the musicians at three others. Despite this enormous workload and recurrent disputes with the city authorities, Bach composed some of his greatest music during this period. His choral compositions alone include such towering masterpieces as the St John and St Matthew Passions, the Magnificat and the Mass in B minor, as well as the Christmas Oratorio and some 250 church cantatas.

The Magnificat - the canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Luke I: 46-55) - traditionally formed part of the ancient Roman Catholic service of Vespers. After the Reformation it was incorporated into the evening services of the Lutheran and Anglican churches, in which it was linked with the Nunc Dimittis. The Magnificat has been set to music more often than any liturgical text other than the Mass itself, in settings that vary enormously in style, from the purity of Palestrina’s exquisite four-part unaccompanied compositions to Monteverdi’s grand, dramatic settings written for St Mark’s, Venice, and later the almost symphonic conception of Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, of which the Magnificat forms the final movement, composed in 1780 for use in Salzburg Cathedral.

Bach’s Magnificat was written in Leipzig for the 1723 Christmas Vespers. This original version was in E-flat and included several additional Christmas texts inserted at various points in the piece. Some years later he revised it, removing the Christmas interpolations to make the piece suitable for use throughout the year and transposing it into D, a much brighter and more satisfactory key for the trumpets in particular.

The extraordinary impact of Bach’s great choral works derives essentially from his remarkable ability to balance, yet at the same time to exploit to the full, the spiritual and dramatic elements of each text, whether it be one as concise as the Magnificat or as monumental as the St Matthew Passion.

The Magnificat is conceived on a grand scale, requiring five soloists, a five-part choir and, for its time, an unusually large orchestra consisting of three trumpets, two flutes, two oboes, strings and continuo. In its splendour and jubilation the piece anticipates the great choruses of the later Mass in B minor. It begins with a brilliant orchestral introduction in which the trumpets feature prominently. This leads directly into an equally impressive chorus, ‘Magnificat anima mea Dominum’ (My soul doth magnify the Lord). The ten verses and Gloria that comprise the Magnificat canticle form a continuous and homogenous whole, in contrast with the libretto of an oratorio or Passion with its wide variety of extracts from many different Biblical and poetical sources. For this reason there are no recitatives in the Magnificat. Instead, each verse receives extended treatment, the chorus supplying appropriate emphasis to sections such as ‘Fecit potentiam in brachio suo’ (He hath showed strength with his arm), while the more reflective verses are assigned to the soloists. In the trio, ‘Suscepit Israel’ (He hath holpen his servant Israel), Bach gives the oboes a plainsong melody traditionally associated with the Magnificat. It appears as a cantus firmus, i.e. a melody in greatly extended notes, against which the three soloists weave decorative vocal lines. For the final verse, ‘Sicut erat in principio …. Amen’ (As it was in the beginning …. Amen), Bach appropriately mirrors the words by recalling the music that was heard ‘as it was in the beginning’, the Magnificat therefore ending as exuberantly and dramatically as it began.

John Bawden Musical Director Fareham Philharmonic Choir

Editor's Website Picks

Interested in contacting other choral groups in Calgary? You will find the Calgary Region Arts Foundation client list at http://www.craf.org/clients4.html

The Academy of Ancient Music at http://www.aam.co.uk/ has program notes on works and shows pictures of artists, such as Bach. To find these, click on News and Features.

A little embarrassed that you don’t know some musical term like appoggiatura? You won’t be if you check out the Glossary page of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem at http://www.bach.org/bach101/suites/glossary.html

The Denton Bach Socety revisits Bach’s first Leipzig Christmas at http://www.dentonbach.com/archive/magnificat9.htm where you can find program notes, commentaries, pictures and the full texts of the Magnificat in Latin and English.

For a site with a multitude of links to all sorts of Bach info try http://www.bachfaq.org/

Interesting trivia about Bach can be found at: http://www.spiritsound.com/bachbits.htmlBach Cantatas Website URL: http://www.bach-cantatas.com

Don’t forget our own http://www.bachcalgary.org with newsletters back to September 2000, pictures of the choir and orchestra and profiles of our conductors.

Choir Proficiency Test (Anonymous)

In order to measure your level of proficiency as a choir member, (and many CBFS members are), the following test has been developed by experts. Read and reflect on each situation and then select the option that you believe will enhance the qualty of the performance.

1. You are entering the choir loft on Sunday morning and suddenly trip and fall down. You should:

a. Assume a kneeling position and break into fervent prayer.

b. Pretend that you’ve had a heart attack.

c. Crawl into the nearest chair.

d. Begin speaking in tongues.

2. You are a soprano and count incorrectly. As a result you boom out a high “C” one measure too soon. You should:

a. Slide into an inspired “O For a Thousand Tongues”

b. Look triumphant and hold on to the note.

c. Stop abruptly in mid-squawk but keep your lips moving.

d. Sink to the floor in shame.

3. After all those long hard choir rehearsals, you show up 20 minutes late for the Christmas musical. You should:

a. Climb up into the back row of the choir from the baptistry.

b. Enter pretending to be a soundman checking cables, then suddenly slip yourself into the choir.

c. Turn the lights out in the church and slip into the choir during the blackout.

d. Read M. Stephen’s pamphlet “Techniques for tardy appearances.”

4. While singing, you discover have only one page of a two page hymn. You should:

a. Hum for your life.

b. Sing “Watermelon, watermelon, watermelon.”

c. Sing the first page over again.

5. Inevitably that dreaded big sneeze occurs toward the end of the choir anthem. You should:

a. As you sneeze, come down hard on your neighbour’s foot to create a diversion.

b. Try to make it harmonize.

c. Sneeze into the hair of the choir member to muffle the noise.

d. Sink to the floor in shame.

Count the number of As, Bs, Cs, and Ds you checked and find your proficiency rating below:

• 4 or more As: There is nothing more you need to know to be a first rate choir member.
• 4 or more Bs: Your church choir reflexes are fully developed and you should do well in choir.
• 4 or more Cs: Your church choral experience is spotty but your team spirit is on target. You will be an asset to most any choir.
• 4 or more Ds: It is recommended you take up soccer or get counseling.

Membership Information

The Calgary Bach Festival Society has a large library of cantatas which can be rented. If interested, please contact us at 282-8525 or e-mail Bill Zdep tcprint@telus.net

Volunteers are welcome and needed for several positions and projects. If interested, please contact us at 282-8525 or e-mail Bill Zdep tcprint@telus.net